Brockton won’t be deterred by $68 million power plant lawsuit

The $68 million federal lawsuit against the city by Brockton power plant developers won’t scare the city into changing its position against the proposed plant, City Solicitor Philip Nessralla said.

By Erik Potter

The Enterprise, Brockton, MA

By Erik Potter

Posted Jun. 15, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 15, 2012 at 3:10 PM

By Erik Potter

Posted Jun. 15, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jun 15, 2012 at 3:10 PM

BROCKTON

» Social News

The $68 million federal lawsuit against the city by Brockton power plant developers won’t scare the city into changing its position against the proposed plant, City Solicitor Philip Nessralla said Thursday.

“I like to think not, but if (the lawsuit’s) primary intent is to threaten and scare the City of Brockton into a direction desired by the applicant, that won’t work,” Nessralla said.

“To a certain extent I think they may be attempting to (intimidate us), but it will not work,” he added. “The balance of their strategy I can’t speak to, only because I can find no rational reason to file the suit.”

The 35-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Boston on behalf of Brockton Power Company LLC, alleges that Brockton officials systematically deprived Brockton Power of its civil rights as a landowner to develop its land.

The suit alleges the defendants were “motivated by their personal and political animus against the project,” and have “engaged in a shocking, outrageous and flagrantly discriminatory pattern of abuse and manipulation of their local land-use powers in their effort to fatally delay and ultimately kill the project.”

The suit asks the court to award Brockton Power more than $68 million in damages. It also asks the court to order Brockton to grant the necessary permits and licenses for the project to proceed and to sell Brockton Power treated wastewater from its sewer treatment plant.

The $68 million is not what the company is really after, however, said local attorney Larry Siskind.

“What do they want to do? They want to get permitted,” he said. “They don’t care about the money. What does $68 million do for (Brockton Power’s multi-national parent corporation) Siemens?”

The money, Siskind said, is a way to force action on the permitting.

“This is a lawsuit to pressure the city, because (Brockton Power) still faces the same obstacle: They need permitting,” he said. “This is nothing more than a strong-armed tactic to bring the city to its knees.”

In a written statement, Brockton Power said the lawsuit was simply filed because the company did not receive a “full and fair review.”

“As our complaint makes clear, we believe there is ample evidence showing that certain city officials not only have failed to provide this review but also have acted beyond their official powers in order to block the project,” Brockton Power wrote.

Councilor-at-large Todd Petti, the only elected city official who supports the power plant, said he wouldn’t comment on the lawsuit directly on advice of legal counsel, saying only, “It’s unfortunate that the city has put itself in this position.”

Page 2 of 2 - Nessralla said he wasn’t sure whether the $68 million lawsuit was the largest in the city’s history, and the size of the number is largely irrelevant because it is arbitrary.

“It’s a very speculative estimation of how they feel they’ve been harmed, equated in financial terms,” he said. “To say it’s vague is an understatement.”

For residents concerned about the city paying out a large court settlement, Nessralla said the chief concern should be the power plant itself.

“The taxpayers and residents of Brockton live here, they have to breathe the air,” he said. “We’re not going to cut corners that don’t address all those concerns of the health, welfare and safety of the residents.”